Alejandro Valverde (Photo: capture-the-peloton.com)

MILANO, Mar 11 (CP) - The Italian race Milano-San Remo will have to do without one of cycling's top names, Alejandro Valverde Belmonte.

The Spaniard, riding for Caisse d'Epargne, has big plans for this season and fears that participating in Milano-San Remo could be a bad idea due to the race's dangerous final kilometers.

Milano-San Remo is scheduled for Saturday, March 24th and is the first of the ten original 'classics'.

© Jonathan Roorda